Tie-plate



W. S. BOYCE Aug. 9, 1932.

TIE PLATE Qriginal Filed Aug. 8. 1929 l mented Aug. 9, 1932 name!) stares I WILLIAM s. Boron, or CHICAGO, ILLInoIs TIE-PLATE Application filed August 8, 1929, Serial No. 384,255. Renewed January 6, 1932..

This invention relates to railroad tie plates and has for its main objects to provide a construction for tie plates whereby the weight thereof may be materially reduced with a consequent saving in cost without impairing the efficiency and strength of the plates; to provide a tie plate construction wherein the plate is provided with means to effectively prevent shifting thereof longitudinally of the ggtie; to provide an arrangement for facilitating seating and embedment of the tie plate on ties having irregular surfaces such as arched-surfaces incident to cutting away of portions of railroadties to eliminate recesses formed therein by rails seated directly thereon; and in general", it is the object-of my invention to provide an improved tie plate structure.

Other objects and advantages of my in- ZQ vention will be understood by reference to the following specification and accompanying drawing in which I have illustrated a tie plate embodying a selected form of my invention.

In the drawing:

.5 Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a tie plate showing the same initially seated on arailroadtie having an arched surface.

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation.

1 19.; Fig. 1 is a section on the line 1-4: of F 2, and

Figs. 5 and 6 are fragmentary illustrations of end portions of tieplates showing modified constructions.

35 Referring now to the drawing, my improved tie plate includes a median portion 10 having a rail seat surface 11 on its top face and an upwardly projecting rib or flange 12 forming a rail abutting shoulder at one- 9- edge of the rail seat 11. End portions 13 and 1 1 eXtend'outWardly from the median portion 10, and an important feature of my inventionis the manner in which the bottom faces of the said end portions are treated.

The bottom face of the median portion 10 is preferably arched longitudinally as indicated at 15 and provided with a plurality of longitudinally extending ribs 16 which reinforce the median portion against bending, m 'buclrling or breaking transversely of the plate.

Adjacent the ends of the median portion 10 and preferably located at a point approxi mately below the edges of the base flanges 17 and 18 of a railseated on said rail seat, are ribs 19 and 20 which extend transversely of the plate. The ribs 19 and 20 are preferably formed without sharp or tie cutting edges or corners, and are adapted to be pressed into or embedded in the tie to initially hold the tie plate against shifting longitudinally of the 60::

tie. The ribs 19 and 20 being rounded as shown do not cut the fibres of the tie but more ly compress or distort some of them, whereby the strength and durability of the tie is not materially affected.

In the present instance, primary seats or tiebearing surfaces 21 and 22 are provided. adjacent the ribs19 and 20, these tie bearing surfaces extending transversely of the tie plate as clearly shown in'Fig. 2. The bOttom faces of the end portions 13 and 1 1 beyond the primary tie bearing seats 21 and 22 are inclined upwardly and outwardly, preferably by being slightly arched so that when the ribs 19 and 20 are initially embedded as shown in the drawing, the ends of the tie plate will engage the tie as indicated at 23 and 24. The arrangement is such that the ends 23 and 2 1, will engage:

the tie at approximately the same time the primary seats 21 and 22 engage or bear onthe tie. "Of course, the exact order ofengagement will depend upon the contour of the tie.

In Fig. 1, l haveshown the ends 23 and 2st in engagement with the tie while the primary seats 21 and 22-are spaced slightly therefrom. Under these circumstances, the tie plate is supported only att-he ribs 19 and 20 and ends 23 and 2 1. It is somewhat objectionable that such a condition should exist for any extended length-of time since the tie plate is obviously subjected to excessive strains due to insufiicient support. Tl erefore, in order to avoid the continuance of this condition, I provide an arrangement whereby the ends of the tie plate do not materially hinder further embedment of the ribs 19 and 20 andsubsequent engagement and embedment of the seats 21 and 22. This. 1

tudinally of the end portions of the plate, these ribs constituting materially'reduced tie bearing areas at the ends of the plate which will readily be embedded in the tie as an incident to the passage of train loads'over the rail portion supported by the tie plate.- Since the ribs 27' and 28 extend longitudi-' abrupt as shown.

nally of the tie, i.. e., with the grain thereof, embedment is greatly facilitated since it is comparatively easy to separate or spread the fibres of the ties. Accordingly, the condition illustrated in Fig. 1 will be automatically relieved, probably after the passage of a single train over the supported rail portion.

The recesses and 26 preferably extend substantially the full length of the end portions 13 and 14 of the plate outside of the primary seats 21 and 22 so that the end portions of the plate do not afford material resistance to embedment of the primary seats 21 and 22 until the said seats are embedded sufficiently to cause the bottoms 29.and

of the recesses to bear on the tie. l/Vhcn this condition is obtained, it will be seen that the tie plate is effectively held against shifting longitudinally of the tie by reason of the depth of the shoulders 31 and 32 combined With the depth of the adjacent ribs 19 and 20. The shoulders 31 and 32 are obviously formed as an incident to the recessing of the endportions of the plate and by preference, these shoulders are made comparatively The arcuate bottom surface 15 of the median portion of the plate also serves to resist longitudinal shifting of the tie plate since there is a vertical depth which is pressed into the tie. If desired, the recesses 25 and 26 may be formed as indicated in :cent the bottom of the rib 20 Fig. 5 wherein'the recess, indicated at 26*, is formed with a more or less arcuate shoulder the recess with the bottom of the rib 20*. As shown in Fig. 5, no distinct primary seat such as 22 is provided since there is sufficient tie bearing surface immediately adjaon each side thereof due to the arched bottom portion 32 of the groove and the arched bottom of the median portion as shown in Fig. 1.

The ribs16 obviously serve to support the 3 median portion of the tie plate very soon after the primary seats 21 and 22 engage the tie so that the median portion of the tie plate is not subjected to excessive strains or stresses for an excessive or objectionable length of time. J The ribs 16', extending longitudinally of the tie, obviously do not materially or objectionably hinder embedment of the ribs 19 and 20 and primary seats 21 and 22 as above described. However, it should be ob-- served that the reinforcing ribs 16 are comparatively blunt or round-edged so as to avoid cutting of the tie, fiber. The bluntedged ribs enter thetie partly by compressing the tie fiberand partly by separating the same. Hence, the median plate portion is somewhat more effectively supported duringthe process of embedment in the tie than are the end portions by the comparatively sharp-edged ribs 28. Openings such as indicated at 33 may be provided in the plate if desired for permitting spikes to be driven through the plate in the usualmanner.

In addition to the holding power obtained by the shoulders 31 and 32 which areformed as an incident to the formation of the recesses 25 and 26, the provision of the said recesses serves to save a substantial amount of metal, approximately .96 pounds per average'plate of 8 width. Such a saving of metal is highly important in that the cost'is correspondingly reduced, approximately $3.60 per ton of tie plates when the selling price per ton is $45.00, this beingan average selling price.

opposite sides of the initial embedment rib 20". The bottom of the median portion may be arched between the inner edges of the inner seat portions 22 as shownat 15*.

I am aware that changes may be made in the above described structure without departing from the spirit ofmy invention, the scope of which should be determined by reference to the following claims, construing the same as'broadly as possible, consistent with. the state of the art. 7 i

I claim as myinvention: V

1. A tie plate havinga rail seat and a rail abutting shoulder on its top face, apair of ribs extending transversely of the plate and depending therefrom approximately beneath the edges of the base flanges of a rail seated on'said rail seat, said ribs being adapted to be initially embedded in a tie toprevent longitudinal shifting of the tie plate. a pair of transversely extending, primary tie bearing surfaces respectively adjacent said ribs, the bottom of the median portion of the plate being arched longitudinally," and the bottom faces of the opposite endportions being provided with a plurality of transversely spaced, longitudinally "extending recesses forming duced area on said end portions, said reduced area, initial tie bearing surfaces being adapted to be readily embedded in the tie whereby embedment of the tie plate is not materially hindered by said end portions.

2 A tie plate having a rail seat and a rail abutting shoulder on its top face, a pair of ribs extending transversely of the plate and depending therefrom approximately beneath the edges of the base flange of a rail seated on said rail seat, said ribs being adapted to be initially embedded in a tie to prevent longitudinal shifting of the tie plate, a pair of transversely extending primary tie engaging bearing surfaces respectively adjacent said ribs, the bottom of the median portion of the plate being arched longitudinally, and the bottom faces of the opposite end portions being inclined upwardly and outwardly, and being provided with a plurality of transversely spaced, longitudinally extending recesses forming longitudinally extending ribs therebetween, said recesses being of a material depth throughout their lengths whereby said ribs constitute initial tie bearing surfaces of reduced area on said end portions, said reduced area, initial tie bearing surfaces being adapted to be readily embedded in the tie whereby embedment of the tie plate is not materially hindered by said end portions.

3. A tie plate having a rail seat and a rail abutting shoulder on its top face, a pair of ribs extending transversely of the plate and depending therefrom approximately beneath the edges of the base flange of a rail seated on said rail seat, said ribs being adapted to be initially embedded in a tie to prevent longitudinal shifting of the tie plate, a pair of transversely extending primary tie engaging bearing surfaces respectively adjacent said ribs,the bottom of the median portionof the plate being arched longitudinally, and provided with one or more longitudinally extending reinforcing ribs, and the bottom faces of the opposite end portions being inclined upwardly and outwardly, and being provided with a plurality of transversely spaced, longitudinally extending recesses forming longitudinally extending ribs therebetween, said recesses being of a material depth throughout their lengths whereby said ribs constitute initial tie bearing surfaces of reduced area on said end portions, said reduced area, initial tie bearing surfaces being adapted to be readily embedded in the tie whereby embedment of the tie plate is not materially hindered by said end portions.

A tie plate having its bottom provided with a pair of longitudinally spaced, de

pending tie-engaging elements extending transversely of the plate and constituting initial tie-bearing seats, the bottom of the plate intermediate said initial tie-bearing seats being arched upwardly and provided with a plurality of longitudinally extending, transversely spaced, blunt bottomed, reinforcin ribs for strengthening said intermediate plate portion, and the bottoms of the end portions of the plate being disposed at an upward and outward inclination and being provided with a series of longitudinal ly extending, transversely arcuate recesses, the surfaces of which are arranged to inter sect each other so as to form sharp-edged, longitudinally extending ribs adapted to separate the fibers of a tie in which the plate is embedded, thereby to facilitate embedment of the plate at its ends.

TVILLIAM S. BOYCE. 

